Pressure treatment for oils and the like



FJ, i932. mgm-g PRESSURE TREATMENT FOR oILs AND THE LIKE Filed April 23, 1929 Patented dan. 5, 12352- iTULES E. mT, F ELVPASO', TEXAS; HARRIET HIRT, EXCUTRIX OF SAID JULES H. HIRT, DECEASED, ASSIGNOR TO L. J'. HIRT, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

PRESSURE TREATMENT FOR OILS AND THE LIKE applicati@ med April 23,

- My invention relates to a pressure treatment for removing certain substances or compounds from oils and other liquids. In the processing of manyv oils and liquids, there is '5 generally required a purification, clarification, or filtration operation. In many cases,

it is practically impossible Ato economically remove the colloidal and other substances from the liquids bythe regular methods now in use. A

I have discovered that even colloidal colorin matter can be easily removed from a liqui by my pressure contact process when carried out under Y roper mechanically controlled conditions. take a suitable porous substance, powdered extremely fine, place it in a suitable receptacle and subject it to a hlgh controlled mechanical pressure. stance becomes so compacted by this high pressure that only the most minute pores exist in the mass.

If, through this highly compressed mass, certain liqulds are forced under pressure, surprising results are attained.

. For example, if a certain quant-ity of refined motor oil, having the usual red or brown color, is forced through a certain quantity of a highly compressed suitable porous materia-l, the treated oil becomes blue-white in color, the process having removed the colloidal impurities from the oil.v Using the same proportions of oil and porous material in the orrhna methods does not remove the color.

Anot er example is the removal of certain sul hur compounds from petroleum liquids. I? the petroleum liquid containingthe sulphur compound is forced under high pressure through a suitable nely powdered highly compressed material, all the sulphur compounds will be removed at ordinary tempera` ture. Any other method of contact of chemicals and petroleum liquids does not remove the sulphur compounds. l

Another surprising result is the converslon of part of the heavy black crude oil of 28-30 B. gravity, into very li ht yellow 67 7 0 B. gravity oil by simply orcing the crude black oil under high pressure through suitable highly compressed mineral matter, at ordinary temperatures.

The subi929. serial ne. 357,531. i

'When crude cottonseed oil is forced under hlgh `pressure through a suitable highly compressed lfiltering substance, the colloidal and suspended matters are completely removed and-the filtered oil will not turn rancid even after an extended period of time.

Certain mineral matter, that has no color removal property under ordinary conditions on certain oils, when used in the pressure treatment process develops remarkable color co removalproperties on the same oils using the same proportions.

Observation indicates -that the flow of the liquid under high pressure through the dense compacted mass is a very diierent physical action than ordinary percolation or'low pressure iiltration.

Under proper conditions, with suitable l highly compressed substances, the forcing of suitable liquids through the dense com- ZG pacted mass gives desirable results with a great many different kinds of li uids such as oil, coffee, ink, milk and water with dissolved salts, and appears to be of general application, where the regular methods do not give the results desired.

For carrying out my process I have shown a suitable apparatus in the drawing by Way of exemplication.

The figure is an elevation of the apparatus. se

Into the container 10, which is about 2 inches in diameter and 12 inches long, I place the dry porous material 16. Secured to the top of the container 10 is the cover 11 and in screw threaded enga ement with the cover is the screw bolt 12. ecured to the lower end of the bolt 12 is a washer 13 that fits loosely in the container. A cotton cloth plug 14 is placed in the bottom of the container and another cotton cloth plug 15 is placed under 90 the washer and on top of the porous material. The porous material, having been placed in the container in a loose form, is compressed by turning the screw 12 to about 700 lbs. per square inch.

The container 10 is mounted on a support 17 and has a discharge. outlet 18 for the treated liquid. v

Any suitable or conventional means may be utilized for forcing the liquid through the compressed mass at the desired pressure of chain 21 b a motor 22 engaging sprockets 23 and 24.

he pipe line 25 has a check valve 26, ge 27, and an air chamber 28 with a needle valve 29 .to vent out any entrained air and is connected to the bottom of the chamber 10.

For petroleum oils it has been found that a porous volcanic ash is a suitable filtering material. This material does not become colloidal when mixed with water and usuall has practically no water content when mine Its composition will vary from nearly pure silica to silicate of alumina with other 1mpurities. The filtering material must have a porosity and not flow together as a dense impermeable mass when subjected to 500 or lmore pounds per square inch after being round to 200 mesh. Ordinary clay vwhich ecomes colloidal when mixed with water, on account of its lack of porosity, is not suitable. A material of the nature of colloidal clay when compressed in the container 10 b y the screw 12, within a short time after the oil is forced through the mass under high pressure, 1200 'to 2000 lbs. per square inch, will invariably bore a channel between the side of the container and the compressed mass. With porous-non-colloidal substances this has never occurred although equally h1 h pressures have been used under severe ]er y conditions of several hundred pounds variation in a second, by gauge observations.

I have also discovered that if the porous material is ground through 40 mesh, there seems to be'enough very fine powder when the entire mass is highly compressed to-equal the results obtained by grinding all the porous material through 350 mesh. In other words, there seems to be about the same amount of voids or less in the 10 mesh porous material and the 350 mesh powdered porous material. This may be due to the air ilnl surrounding each particle.

This is of much practical importance in.

the cost of grinding. Experience also shows that a greater pressure is required. to pump through the 40 mesh compressed mass than through the 350 mesh compressed mass un- -der equal conditions of compacting pressure.

vThe term porousm'condition is relative to the amount of pressure used, in'forcing the liquid through the mass. For economic reasons it is not desirable to exceed the ordinary pipe fittings working pressure hence I have tried to keep it below 500 lbs. Good results have also been obtained at 100 to 250 lbs. pressure treatment under certain conditions.

The following specific case of pressure treatment of a petroleum oil as compared to the regular 1gravity treatment shows the surprising resu ts obtained.

An ice machine oil was selected which was Aof asphalt base and had the following proplbs. pressure. To this oil, a porous volcanic ash wasadded `in theform of a powder of 350 mesh and agitated for 24 hours. This proc.

ess was repeated after filtering oil' the previous char e of ash powder, 10% of the weight of o1l. After the tenth operation, requiring at least ten days, the oil had not changed' any in color or' odor. If the same weight of volcanic ash, as in the contact method of treating, and ground to 350 mesh, is put in a container and then the ice machine oil poured on top of the tamped mass, it will take about six months for the oil to percolate through this finely powdered non-colloidal mass and the oil'will beblue-white in color, with much of the asphaltic odor removed.

If the 'same weight of 350 mesh porous volcanic ash is compressed in the cylinder 10, to about 700 lbs. per square inch, and then force the oil through the compressed mass at about 500y lbs. per square inch, the oil will beblue-white in color and practically all the odor will be removed and the oil becomes nearly tasteless in a few hours time of processing at ordinary temperatures.

In percolating a lubriciating oil, for example, through a layer of the coarse porous material or pumping the mixture of oil and powdered material into a filter press at ordinary pressures of about 50 lbs.` pervsquare inch, the mass or cake retains from 7 5 to 80% of oil. In my high pressure treatment process, the dense compressed mass retains only from 30 to 35% ofvoil.

In the bleaching of oils, by the use of bone char percolators under gravity or low pressure treatment, about 10% of the weight of the bone char charge in oil will come lthrough colorless. Thissame colorless liquid cannot be obtained by powdered bone char if used by the contact aitatng process even ifv much more powdered one char is used in proportion to the quantity of oil.

When the powdered bone char (a porous substance) is put into the'compressor of my high `pressure treatment process, compressed to acompact mass and the oil forced through this com ressed bone char, using the same oil as used 1n the percolator type of treatment, I have discovered that the colorless oil will be in much greater proportion to the amount of bone char and usually exceeds the weight of bone char charged into the compresso?.

That is, the yield Ais from 3 to 10 times the amount of colorless oil from the same weight of bone char as was used in the percolator type of treatment, the standard process now used for this purpose.

This great advantage of much higher capacity of theporous material to retain and remove certain impurities in oils and liquids is of substantial economic importance and makes the process very desirable.

I have also discovered that the oil so treated by the pressure treatment process has much greater wearing properties on high speed cotton spindles. In a test with the pressure treatment process this oil did not change color in a years run at 8500 R. P. M., whereas the same refined oil untreated gets black in color in 6 weeks time. Another test on jumbo spindles at 3500 R. P. M. gave similar results.

Transformer oil when treated by the pressure treatment process becomes blue-white in color and its di-electric strength is raised nearly 100% over the regular best oil now 0n the market. y

My pressure treatment process can use other materials than those specified. In m copending application, Ser. No. 349520, filed March 23, 1929, I. have disclosed a compound for treating petroleum base oils to remove foul smelling and sulphur compounds which is a dry porous reaction product of `a caustic alkali solution, litharge and caustic lime. If this. product is compressedinthe specied manner, certain oils which will not give up their sulphur content by the ordinary process of treatment will do so quickly when forced through the dense compressed compound at high pressure.

The phenomena involved while not fully understood maybe explained in part as follows:

It isl believed with petroleum liquids that the impurities are associated with'colloidal dissolved and emulsified substances and if they are forced through extremely fine pores in a porous material that they are thereby retained bythe particles of the material.

When the chemical compound of my copending application is used in the compressor, theireaction probably takes (Tf the n ature similar to highly compressing copper with sulphur which forms copper sulphide without the requirement of heat by the highpressure alone of the two elemental While the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 discloses upward forcing of the liquids through the compressed material in the compressor, tests have been made forcing the liquid ldown through the compressed mass. This mode of operation, while eifective, is not as practical in all cases as forcing'the liquid up through the compressed mass.

I have discovered that 'in forcing a liquid -left alone while the liquid is there is about 50% more resistance when the air has not been displaced than where the liquid is forced through after the air has been dis laced.

t should be understood that there is no greater pressure at the top ofthe compressor than at the bottom and it takes less pressure to force the liquid through the mass after the air has been displaced.

With substances of a colloidal nature when mixed with water, if compressed into a compact mass, it requires a much greater pressure to force the liquid through the compact mass after the air has been dlsplaced.

Different pressures have been tried on the same material for color removal, andit has been found that there is a certain maximum pressure of compressing the filtering material and a certain maximum liquid forcing pressure which is the most economical. Generally it is aimed to have the pumping pressure not to exceed 300 to 500 lbs. per square inch although good results with the same liquids and filter materials yhave been obtained at lower pressures of 100 to 200 ounds per square inch with much longer time of cony tact.

Some tests made at 1000 pounds per square inch pumping pressure gave results which could not be obtained at lower pressure. Most of these tests were of the naturey of breaking down a sulphur compound in lubricating'oils with the chemical compound referred to in my copending application.

The removal of-the compacted mass after an oil has been forced through it has become a simple operation in discharging the compressor. The bottom fitting is removed and with a few blows of a hammer the compressed mass slides out as one cylinder. Removal of the compact mass by dig 'ng it out is a more diilicult task, of several burs hard work, as the mass is about like neat Portland cement concrete in hardness when in the compressorl until it is jarred with a' few blows of a light hammer when it becomes like erasing rubber. Another point of practical interest is that after the compressor is once set at its pressure on the dry material and the oil (for instance) has displaced the air in the (Toms pacted mass, it cannot be screwed up to in: crease or decrease the pressure, without the liquid coming over immediately carrying much of the substances that were heldin the lter material and the liquid will not discharge from the compressor clear again, until a fresh new charge of dry material has been placed in the compressor and compacted to its. initial' desired pressure, and strictly' being forced through it. n y

Starting and stopping at time intervals of ldays has no objectionable effect on the dis- I through the compressed porous mass, thatscharge llquid in color or clearness.

I claim: l s 1 1. The process of removing colloidal and emulsified substances from petroleum oils comprising highly compressing v' a comminuted porous volcanic ash'to the point that the contact spaces between the particles vlof the material are substantially eliminated andl the oil must ilow through the pores of the said material and then forcing the oil through the dense compacted mass.

2. The process of removing colloidal and emulsiied substances from oils comprising highly compressing a 'comminuted porous volcanic ash to the point that the contact spaces between the particles of material are substantially eliminated and thenfforcing the oil through the pores of the dense compacted mass.

3. A filter material comprising a highly compressed comminuted porous volcanic ash substantially free from any contact spaces between uthe particles of material andfharacterized by the property of permitting the passage of a liquid through the pores only under substantial pressure.

4. The process of removingcolloidal and emulsied substances from petroleum oils,

comprising compressing acomminuted por-- volcanic ash to about700 lbs. per square inch so that any contact` spaces between the particles are substantially eliminated, and then forcing the oil throu h the 'pores of the dense onlilpacted mass at a out 500 lbs. per square rnc In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

s JULES H. HIRT.y 

